850 KBPORT — 1889. 



hands on ; e.g. a Nutlematl blackens his nose ; then the people will say r 

 ' Oh, your head is black ; ' but if anybody should happen to say, ' What 

 is the matter with vour nose ? ' the Nntlmatl would take offence. Some- 

 times they cut off "the prows of canoes because of their resemblance to 

 noses. The Nutlematl must be as filthy as possible. 



Sometimes a chief will give a feast to which all these groups are 

 invited. Then nobody is allowed to eat before the Ha'mats'a has eaten,. 

 and if he should decHne to accept the food offered him, the feast must 

 not take place. After he has once bitten men he is not allowed to take 

 part in feasts. 



The chief's wife must make a brief speech before the meal is served. 

 She has to say, ' I thank you for coming. Be merry and eat and drink.' 

 If she should make a mistake, deviating from the formula, she has to 



give another feast. • i i -j 



From these brief notes it will be seen that the winter festivals, besides 

 their religious character, are events of social interest in which merry- 

 making and feasting form a prominent feature. The same has been 

 observed among numerous American tribes. 



Among the secret societies forming the group of the Me'emqoat the 

 Ha'mats'a is by far the most important. The Ha'mats'a is initiated by 

 one of three spirits : Baqbakualanosi'uae, Baqbakua'latle, Ha'maa or the 

 human-headed crane. The ceremonies of initiation are as follows : In 

 Tvinter the inhabitants of the village assemble every night and sing four 

 songs, accompanying the dance of the novice, who is accompanied by ten 

 companions called Sa'latlila, who carry rattles. When the dance is at 

 an end they leave the house -where the festival is celebrated, always sur- 

 rounding the novice ; they go all around the village, visiting every house. 

 All of a° sudden the novice disappears, and his companions say that he 

 has flown away. Then his voice is heard in the woods, and everybody 

 knows that he is now with the spirits. There he stays from one to five 

 months, and the people believe that during this time he wanders all over 

 the world. At the end of this term his voice is again heard in the woods. 

 Birds are heard whistling on all sides of the village, and then the Indians 

 prepare to meet the new Ha'mats'a. The sound of the birds' voices is 

 produced by means of whistles, which are blown by the new Ha'mats'a 

 and by those who were initiated at former occasions, but they are kept a 

 profound secret from all those who are not initiated. 



The father of the young Ha'mats'a invites the inhabitants of the village 

 to a feast. The guests sit down in the rear of the house, everyone carrying 

 a stick for beating time. Two watchmen, each carrying a rattle in shape 

 of a skull, stand on each side of the door, and are occasionally relieved. 

 A chief stands in the centre of the house, two messengers attending him. 

 These he despatches to the women of the gens of which the new Ha'mats'a 

 is a member, and they are ordered to dance. The interval until the 

 women are dressed up and make their appearance is filled with railleries 

 between the messengers. As soon as the watchmen see a woman coming 

 they begin swinging their rattles, and then the guests begin singing and 

 beating time with their sticks. The woman enters the house, and, turning 

 to thenght, goes around the fire until she arrives in the rear part of the 

 house. Then'' the guests stop singing and beating time until the dance 

 begins. In dancing the woman first faces the singers ; then she turns to 

 the left, to the fire, and to the right, and, finally, faces the singers again. 

 She leaves the house by going along the left side of the fire. When the 



